(NewsNation) — Five years after the deaths of his ex-wife and his current wife’s two young children, self-published doomsday author Chad Daybell is finally going on trial.
Jury selection begins Monday for what could be a ten-week trial in Boise, Idaho for the 2019 deaths of Lori Vallow Daybell’s children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan and Chad Daybell’s first wife, Tammy Daybell.
Lori Daybell was convicted in all three deaths last year and was given three consecutive life sentences. Chad Daybell faces the death penalty.
“The evidence here is far more overwhelming against Chad than it was against Lori,” says NewsNation legal analyst Sara Azari.
She tells “NewsNation Prime” that Chad won’t have “much of a chance” arguing that he’s not guilty. She believes the defense should save whatever major arguments it has for the trial’s penalty phase.
Chad Daybell faces three counts of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit theft and insurance fraud.
Azari says Daybell’s lawyers will be trying to find potential jurors who’ve experienced trauma in their own lives. “If they’ve experienced trauma, they’re less likely to be inclined to actually impose (the death penalty).”
